Regulation FD

Results from the 2014 Earnings Call Practices Survey conducted by the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), a professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants, confirm that an...more

Activism is on the rise and everyone's activism defense playbook includes engagement, engagement and more engagement as the principal response.
The experts in the field are well versed in when to engage, who to engage...more

Recently the New England Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors presented a distinguished panel of current and former securities regulators discussing enforcement and governance issues facing boards of...more

Social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn, allow companies to communicate with their investors, costumers and the general public, and provide a 24/7 outlet for corporate disclosure. As social...more

On September 6, 2013, the SEC announced that it had brought charges against, and settled with, the former head of investor relations at an Arizona-based solar energy company for alleged violations of Regulation FD. Regulation...more

On September 6, 2013, the SEC charged the former head of investor relations at First Solar Inc., an Arizona-based solar company, with violating Regulation FD, which is designed to prevent issuers from selectively disclosing...more

On September 6, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-and-desist order settling charges that Lawrence Polizzotto, the former head of investor relations at First Solar, Inc., a solar energy company,...more

Over the last several months, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has provided the public with two new interpretive guides regarding the use of social media by public companies, investment companies and their...more

As financial institutions and investors turn to social media to instantly share snippets of news and potential clues about market trends, the FBI and SEC are monitoring such postings for evidence of insider trading and...more

As we discussed in our February Bulletin, late last year Netflix and its CEO, Reed Hastings, each received a notice from the SEC Staff indicating that the Staff intended to recommend to the SEC that it institute proceedings...more

In testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, SEC Chair Mary Jo White stated that the Netflix Section 21(a) report stands for the proposition that use of social media is acceptable “so...more

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") recently issued a Report of Investigation (the "Report") in which it provides helpful guidance to public companies regarding their use of social media to disclose material...more

On May 2, Lona Nallengara and Shelley E. Parratt, the acting director and the deputy director, respectively, of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance, participated in a roundtable...more

On April 2, 2013, the SEC issued a report and press release making it clear that companies are permitted to use social media outlets to disclose information in compliance with Regulation FD. More on the SEC's report and press...more

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a report concluding that social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, may constitute legitimate means for a reporting company to make public announcements in compliance with...more

Recognizing the reality that many investors likely get more information from Facebook and Twitter than a corporate 10-K and that most public companies have a robust social media presence, the U.S. Securities and Exchange...more

On April 2, 2013, the SEC provided guidance on the use of social media to disclose company information in a Report of Investigation under Section 21(a). The investigation concerned Netflix's chief executive officer (CEO)...more